Regression
by The Keeper of Worlds
Summary: Seals are a mysterious part of the ninja world. A mind is even more of a mystery. What would happen if the two were connected. What will become of Sakura without the seal forcing her to think things and sealing her emotions? What will she become and who will help her?-Rated T: Rating for language


I do not own "Naruto"-"Naruto" is the copyrighted property of Masashi Kishimoto-I do not publish this work for the intent of self profit, or any form of monetary gain.

**Regression**

_Chapter 1: The Broken Blossom_

_Fuinjutsu is the art of sealing-A powerful, but scarcely used, ability in the Shinobi world-Many are for sealing items, messages, elements, even demons and people- However...some are also used to the seal mind-What happens when one makes a person's personality for more than half their life? __What happens when that seal is broken? Then who do they become?_

Team 7 has recently been through quite the rough patch lately. Their teammate, Sasuke Uchiha-aka duckass to Naruto-had recently left their village to train under the rogue ninja, Orochimaru of the Sannin-aka the _SUPER PASTY PEDOPHILE_ to me, deal that guy is fucked up! Now Naruto was recovered and out of the hospital and would have left on a training trip with Ero-Sannin, aka Jiraiya of the Sannin and self-proclaimed Toad Sage and _Super Pervert_. He would've, but an emergency came up and he had to leave for two weeks and then they would start Naruto's roughly two-year training trip, he was actually do back today. Right now Naruto and Sakura, who has been accepted as Tsunade's-the Godaime Hokage-apprentice recently were training together at their old field to relieve stress and to hang out. Naruto had noticed that lately Sakura had been getting what appeared to be strange headaches and neither could figure out why. They seemed to occur when two triggers were met, 1-somebody said Sasuke's name near her and 2-Naruto was nearby and she looked at him. She would then get a slight blush, a far-away kind of look, and then she would grab the bridge of her nose from the ensuing headache. Sakura enjoyed Naruto's company after everything that had happened. A few headaches were a small price to pay for her. That was until today, when a regular spare would alter both of their lives forever.

"Shannaro!" cried out Sakura as she attempted to hit Naruto, only to discover it was _another _Shadow Clone. _"How many of these things **can** he make!" thought Sakura in sheer disbelief as yet another clone poofed out of existence._

Naruto then easily appeared behind Sakura with a kunai at her throat and said, "My win Sakura-chan!" As she lowered her arms in defeat she turned to face her team's ball of sunshine.

"Jeez! When did you get so good Naruto?" said Sakura with obvious curiosity and praise as well as she put her hands on her hips. Naruto just looked at her with his usual foxy grin and rubbed the back of his head.

_"Him and that foxy face of his. Wait, foxy? Why does that sound so familiar? Almost like I use to call him that or something?" thought Sakura receiving yet another headache as her **Inner Sakura** was surprisingly quite yet again._

Naruto in concern reached for Sakura and grabbed her shoulders, forgetting the chakra he still was actively running through his hands. This caused his chakra to flow over Sakura's skin, and make contact with a hidden seal that was on the back of her neck. That is when things got _absolutely batshit crazy._

"I'm fine Naruto,"started Sakura feeling a bit nauseous, "it's just another hea..." She never finished that sentence because at that moment Naruto's chakra, having absorbed some of the caustic properties of Kyuubi's chakra, broke the already deteriorating seal like wet tissue in a storm. Sakura got a glazed look in her eyes and collapsed onto her knees and let out the a silent scream with tears streaming down her face.

Suffice it to say, Naruto was royally freaking out. "Sakura-chan, hey Sakura-chan," he said while holding her shoulders trying to get her to react. After a minute of shaking and calling her name she slowly looked at him.

When she did, she got a strangely huge smile on her face gave him a big hug and shouted, "Foxy-kun! When did you get so big? Do you know why we are out here?" Naruto got so pale when she said that name anyone would think he was vampire.

_"Foxy-kun! She hasn't called me that since I first met her in the park when we were five! I didn't see her again until we were eight at the Academy and she acted like she didn't even recognize me! What the hell is going on here? It's like almost like..."_

However before he could finish that thought or even say anything a huge flare of chakra shot out from Sakura and encased her in a body-tight shell of her own chakra and then promptly shattered in a flash. When Naruto looked at Sakura his jaw hit the floor in shock and fear. Sakura had physically reverted back to the body she had when he first met her! Her old clothes now smothered her smaller form. Naruto was looking like he was about to be physically ill at what happened and Sakura had a _very_ cute pout from being stuck in the clothes.

"Aw," began Sakura while looking at Naruto, "no fair Foxy-kun you got even bigger than me!"

"Sakura-chan,' began Naruto while kneeling down to her level, "what is the last thing you remember?" He knew he had to ask, but he dreaded knowing that what happened might be irreversible.

"Um," said Sakura while squinting her eyes in thought, "I remember mommy getting mad and taking me home after playing with you. Then she took me into my room, but _weird_ writing was on the floor and she made me sit in the middle. The end!" She finished with a traditional little kid smile. Naruto got really scared because he had an idea at what happened. _"Oh Kami," thought Naruto with unrivaled fear, "that writing must have been a seal of some kind. But why put it on her, and why then? The chakra I had must have broken it. It was probably weakened recently and that's why her mother wouldn't have time to reinforce it!"_

Trying to keep Sakura from getting worried he ruffled her hair and smiled, "Good job Sakura-chan." She giggled at the action and praise.

"Sakura-chan," began Naruto while trying very hard not to get ill, "I'm going to take you to see a lady called Tsunade and a man named Jiraiya, they are going to help us figure out why I got, _big_, okay?" Sakura simply smiled and happily hugged him again. Naruto smiled at the action, but got deadly serious as he picked up Sakura, in her now far too big clothes, and raced off to the Hokage Tower like a man possessed. Getting an idea, he quickly summoned up a Shadow Clone.

"Go find Ino," said Naruto to his clone, "tell her to come to the Hokage Tower immediately and tell her there is something wrong with Sakura-chan." The cloned nodded and raced off to find Ino.

Reaching the tower, Naruto promptly stormed into Tsunade's office without even waiting, nor caring, to be called in. Suffice it to say, Tsunade was quite angry that Naruto just burst into her office. Jiraiya was also in the office and appeared to be finishing his report.

"Naruto," shouted Tsunade, "what is the meaning of just barging in here!?"

Naruto just sighed and said, "Good, Jiraiya's here too. That'll make this easier." Now both Tsunade and Jiraiya realized that he hadn't called Jiraiya Ero-Sannin or something similar. He hadn't even said his usual, _"Hey Baa-chan!"_ to Tsunade. This was worrying. It got even worse when they noticed Naruto was carrying a small child in his arms. A small child with _pink_ hair and _green_ eyes.

"Who's the little girl," asked Jiraiya in a serious tone.

"That's why I'm here," began Naruto, "it's Sakura-chan. She suddenly started acting like how she was when I met her when we were five and then, _this_." As he finished saying that, he walked closer to them and put Sakura on the desk. Sakura looked up at them and gave a huge smile.

"Hi! I'm Sakura, who are you lady?" said Sakura while looking at Tsunade. Tsunade, even with her appearance jutsu, suddenly seemed to show her age, at least in her eyes. They screamed in pain at the situation before her.

She quickly hid that look and smiled at the child before her and replied, "My name is Tsunade, I'm the Hokage."

"You're pretty!" said Sakura in a happy voice. Tsunade smiled at that, as did Jiraiya. He knew Tsunade was trying hard not to get upset, lest she panic the child. As he watched the scene, he clenched his fists in anger. _"If Tsunade is like this," he thought somberly, "then how the HELL is Naruto right now? The kid must be losing it right now for Kami's sake!" _

"I believe her mind was sealed since she first met me," said Naruto in a cold voice. Now _that_ statement threw them for a loop. Tsunade was too stunned to speak, but Jiraiya, as a seal master reacted fast.

"Where is the seal and how did it break," spoke Jiraiya in a dead serious tone that offered no hesitation.

"I think it's on the back of her neck and I'm _pretty_ sure it was already weakening for some reason, but broke when I grabbed her shoulders with chakra still running strong on my hands. After I grabbed, _it_ happened." answered Naruto in a sad voice. Jiraiya could tell Naruto was taking this hard, and personally.

"It's not your fault gaki," said Jiraiya in an assuring tone with Tsunade nodding her agreement, "but, do you have any idea who might have put the seal on her in the first place?" The room seemed to get very cold. The look in Naruto's eyes spelled doom for the person who did this. The Kyuubi would look tame compared to what Naruto wanted to do.

"_Her mother,_" spat out Naruto, like it was a curse. Tsunade and Jiraiya went wide-eyed and the accusation.

"What makes you say that?" asked Tsunade.

"What Sakura told me about the last thing she could remember before now," replied Naruto. He then explained what she had said and how he remembered that day and how she acted when he finally met her again. To put in nicely, Tsunade and Jiraiya were appalled, saddened, and very **pissed**.

Tsunade broke the bottle of sake on her desk. This scared Sakura and quickly jumped to Naruto with a frightened look on her face. Naruto easily picked her up and calmed her down. Afterwards, he sent a hard glare at Tsunade, who looked upset that her temper scared Sakura and Jiraiya put a hand on her shoulder.

"Relax, everyone," said Jiraiya trying to be the peacemaker, "right now we need to figure out exactly how much she has forgotten, if it is reversible, talk to her _mother_, and get somebody we can trust to help watch her." Naruto suddenly got a look on his face and smirked as Jiraiya finished what he was saying.

"One step ahead of you Ero-Sannin," said Naruto as he sat down on the couch with Sakura, who was playing with his jacket. Before Jiraiya could ask what that meant, Ino suddenly burst into the office with a panicked look on her face.

"What happened to Sakura!" shouted Ino with worry evident in her features.

"Sakura," said Naruto getting Ino's attention, "say hi to Ino, do you recognize her?" When Ino saw just who was in Naruto's lap, she was at a loss for words and stared wide-eyed at the child Sakura.

"Hi Ino-chan," said Sakura while waving, "I'm sorry but I don't really know you either." Naruto just gave her head a rub in reassurance and Ino smiled and walked over to her and kneeled to her level.

"Hi there Sakura, nice to meet you," said Ino with tears in her eyes. Her heart was ripping at seeing this. She looked at Naruto and her eyes were screaming for him to tell her what happened. Sighing, he retold his tale to Ino. At the end, she too was infuriated at what Sakura's own mother had done to her. However, one single question was going unasked through all of their minds, _"Why?"_

While Ino and Naruto played with Sakura to keep her happy, Tsunade had Jiraiya go collect some ANBU in order to _retrieve_ Sakura's mother, Kiari Haruno.

Upon arriving, Tsunade grabbed her by the scruff of her shirt and lifted her high into the air. "What did you do to your daughter?!" she demanded and promptly dropped the woman onto the floor in anger.

Kiari stared at the Hokage with fear evident in her eyes. "I don't know what you are talking about. I would never hurt Sakura!" she cried in protest, but her voice wavered in her panic. Tsunade just glared at the woman before her and pointed to the sleeping form of Sakura between an angry looking Ino and Naruto on the couch. When she saw her daughter, she sighed in defeat and glared at Naruto with undiluted loathing.

"Damn it you demon brat," spat Kiari, "what did you do to _my _seal? I was finally going to have my child away from you, get wealth by her marrying the Uchiha heir, and live happily in comfort, but no. You just had to break the damn thing didn't you! You have ruined everything!" Naruto said nothing in return, but he slowly got up, making sure not to disturb Sakura, walked over to Kiari, and slugged her as hard as he could in her gut. She doubled over gasping for air and nearly passed out until Naruto lifted her back up and stared deep into her eyes. His had become slitted with a tint of red visible.

"How could you?" asked Naruto with pure hate in his voice, "She is _your_ _daughter_ for Kami's sake! Why would you do this? How could a _parent_ do this?! You make me sick. You call me a demon and a monster for something I can't control, but you are the real monster. Only a true demon would warp their own child's mine just to satisfy their needs. I honestly hope that you burn forever for what you did to Sakura-chan. You took away her free will and warped her mind to love someone against her will. You are _scum_!" With that Naruto flung the pathetic woman back to the ANBU who grabbed her and held her down. Tsunade and Jiraiya looked on at Naruto with pride at his actions. They showed just how much the boy truly cared for his precious people. His Will of Fire was strong and would only get stronger. Ino smiled at Naruto and mouthed a _"thank you"_ and rubbed Sakura's back to keep her calm in sleep.

"ANBU, take her away to Ibiki and Anko for interrogation. Tell them they have free reign on her and to extract any information possible on the seal she used. Oh, and Ino, could you go get your father for me? I need him here so we check Sakura's mind and see just how _permanent_ the state of her mind is." said Tsunade with sadness at the prospect of just how severe the damage to the child's mind might be. _"That bitch is getting off too easy in my opinion," thought Tsunade, "I'm glad the brat gave her a good one, as Hokage, even though I would love to, I couldn't. Oh well, he sure has a mean punch though."_

Ino and the ANBU left to do their jobs. Soon Inoichi, Ino's father, and Jiraiya began the combined effort of going over Sakura's mind and the information on the seal that Ibiki and Anko had extracted. Several hours later, they came to a very depressing conclusion. Sakura's memories from after the seal was placed were completely destroyed and gone. It appeared that in an act of mental preservation, she subconsciously triggered the physical change to help coup with her new mentality. The state of her mind was also explained. Upon realizing her actions for all those years, she couldn't take the strain of how she treated Naruto, her false love for Sasuke, and what her mother had down. In order to handle it, her mind self-destructed those memories after the seal to help her not become comatose in shock. She had fully lost all memories from after the sealing until she turned twelve. She had lost seven year's worth of memories. There was a slight chance they could come back, but the odds were very slim. It would only happen when her mind was truly ready to accept the information and that could take years. The full realization of all that had happened was horribly depressing for everyone, but none more so than Naruto.

Seeing how sad he was, little Sakura went up to Naruto and gave him a big hug. "Don't be sad Foxy-kun, you need to smile!" she said while smiling herself and hugging him tighter. Naruto was at first surprised by her actions, but then smiled and picked her up and returned her hug while tickling her into a fit of giggles. Everyone who saw this had tears in their eyes while smiling sadly.

"So," began Ino gaining everyone's attention, "with Sakura's mom in jail, who's going to take care of her. She's gonna need somebody to be a parent and friend."

"I will," said Naruto without a second of hesitation, "This is partially my fault and don't try to tell me otherwise. I will protect Sakura-chan if it's the last thing I do. I swear it on my Nindo, Dattebayo!"

When everyone heard his bold declaration, they just stared wide-eyed at Naruto. Jiraiya, however, was looking on his pupil in pride. _"He's so like you it's scary, Minato," thought Jiraiya sadly._

"Are you sure Naruto?" asked Tsunade while looking strongly at the boy she considered like a brother, "You are basically agreeing to be her father in a nutshell. That is ton of responsibility to go with on top of being a ninja. You have to be absolutely sure about this."

Naruto looked from Tsunade-to-Sakura-to-Tsunade again and gave a determined look. "I've never been more sure of anything Baa-chan. If being a father for Sakura-chan is what it takes, then I don't care about the risks." said Naruto. Upon seeing his determination, Tsunade just sighed, smiled, and nodded her head in approval.

"Alright," said Tsunade, "I hereby approve you as Sakura's new guardian. Jiraiya, I know you wanted to go and train him outside of the village, but given the circumstances, do you think you can do it here?"

"No problem at all, Tsunade-hime," said Jiraiya without a moments hesitation and an encouraging smile towards Naruto.

"Thanks Baa-chan, Ero-Sannin, that means a lot," said Naruto with a sigh of relief. After taking a look at Sakura in Naruto's arms and thinking, Ino came to a sound decision.

"If you can be tough enough to be her dad, the least I can do is be her big sister, right Naruto?" said Ino with a sad smile.

After getting over his surprise at her statement, Naruto looked at Ino with sheer gratitude and then turned to Sakura in his arms. "Hey Sakura-chan, how does that sound to you? I'll be your new Tou-san and Ino will be your Onee-chan, that okay?" asked Naruto with his trademark grin.

Sakura got wide-eyed and looked back and forth between Ino and Naruto before shouting, "Yay, Tou-san, Onee-chan!" She then proceeded to hug Naruto even tighter and pull Ino towards them since she was close and smiled for all she was worth. Ino and Naruto gladly returned the little girl's hug with gusto. Everyone else looked on at the seen with pride at the two young ninja's wills.

"Okay," began Tsunade, "since you'll be taking care of Sakura, you need a new apartment to make room for her. I'll fill out the paperwork and get one by tomorrow morning at the latest. I'll also give you some money to get her some new clothes, Ino, you'll go with him for that, and please no orange." Ino nodded and smiled at the prospect of shopping, and Naruto sent a glare to Tsunade for dissing his orange.

"Until then, I've got some old clothes from when I was little that could fit her for tonight," said Ino.

"Thanks," said Naruto with relief at not having to worry about finding clothes for Sakura to sleep in. Especially since orange was out of the picture-_sheesh_.

With everyone making the final arrangements needed Naruto was left holding the now tired out and sleeping form of Sakura in his arms. He went to his apartment and sat her on the couch to with him as they waited for Ino to bring clothes for her to sleep in. Watching her sleeping form, Naruto couldn't help but smile.

_"Even though it's nowhere near how I wanted it," thought Naruto, "I will still always care for you Sakura-chan. I know what it's like to be without a family and I won't let you share that fate. I will be the best father I can be for you, Sakura-chan, musume(daughter). I will still love you, musume." _

**...How will Naruto deal with being Sakura's father and Sakura's renewed childhood?-Read on to find out:)**

**...Until next time...DATTEBAYO Everybody!**


End file.
